


Assembling the Pieces

by MiniCinnamon99



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Moral Dilemmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26867782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniCinnamon99/pseuds/MiniCinnamon99
Summary: Why was it always up to him? Didn't the universe know he made shitty decisions?
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Assembling the Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to post this using my phone. Why is this impossible?

He wouldn’t even be considering it if it weren’t for the kid. Pepper knew that too, deep down. It wasn’t about the world this time. Well, it always kind of would be. He would always feel guilty about it but...he could live with that. He already had this long, what was a few decades more? But...But Peter.

“What would you tell me to do?” He squinted his eyes carefully, but Peter’s picture gave him no clues. There was one picture in every room of the house, some more hidden than others. They never gave him the answers he needed, but he always tried anyway.

“He’d tell you to do what you always do Boss; save the day.”

It hits him hard in the solar plexus. He sucks in a sharp breath and the world goes a little wonky. It hits true, because she’s _his_ goddamit, and sometimes, he wishes he’d scaled back the A.I. in his life. Friday was not as gentle as her predecessor. She was every bit as fiery as Tony with none of the passive aggressive bullshit that Jarvis had learned. He still missed Jay like he’d miss his right arm if he ever lost it. But Friday was his girl and she wouldn’t say it to hurt him like others would. She says it simply because it’s true. Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt like a _bitch_. He flops into a chair, holding that spot that always aches in his chest when his breathing gets too hard. How the fuck does he save the day this time?

He can’t just give Rogers, the only Avenger who literally travelled time and lost everything in his previous life, the answer to time and space and just tell him to use it responsibly. Romanoff...she’d find a way to get it done, but she’d already lost so much, could he in good conscience do that to her? Could he give her all of the tools and tell her to go clean it up herself? Not anymore than he could Pepper. He has a thing for redheads, sue him.

Banner wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole, Thor is a mess. Barton...well that would be worse than giving it to Rogers. Rhodey would do it but...as horrible as it was to think, _could he?_

No way was he giving it to the aliens. As much as he loved Nebula, the answer was no. Okoye...well, she’d take it, but that opens a whole other can of worms with legalities and ownership and then, could he demand it back from her after? With what lawyer? And that meant it was back to him. It was back to him to build them the gear, lay out the plan and get them there and back. It was up to him. Again. And he’d have to leave Morgan.

He scrubbed at his face and leaned his elbows on the table. How the hell was he supposed to trade one kid for another? How was he supposed to look at Morgan and tell her that all the years he could spend with her were worth it for Peter? They were, not because he didn’t want to be there, but because Peter deserved those years more. How do you explain that to a five year old. Howard suddenly popped into his head and he fought the urge to laugh. That was...shitty. A video. She was too young to understand now, so make a video she can watch for years to come. Fuck, here he was taking parenting advice from _Howard Stark_.

That still left him with the question of if it was worth it. Was saving the world, bringing peace to the universe, and more importantly, bringing Peter home, worth losing all that he had? His chest ached at the thought of leaving Morgan and Pepper, but his palms were itching and his blood was singing with the need to _move_ . To _do something_.

“Pep?” Pepper poked her head around the corner, hair twisted up into a bun, held together by a pencil. He was caught with a strong wave of nostalgia of her first year as a PA. His PA. She enjoyed their cabin here, but she was a woman of action. She was just as much of a hero as he was, but she was in the trenches of a different kind. He saved the world and then she was right behind him, ready to stitch it back together.

“If I saved the world, you’d be one of the first people coordinating rescues and rehab, right?” Pepper’s face softened and she leaned her chest against the wall she was leaning around.

“That’s your final answer?”

“Mine depends on yours,” he smirked. She raised an eyebrow in a way that made him miss his SI office.

“You already know mine,” she accused with a perfectly pointed smile. He rolled his eyes.

“That’s what I was afraid of. How do I explain this to her?” Pepper watched him for a long moment before she shook her head.

“You tell her that her Daddy is off to do what he was always meant to do; bring her brother home.” It was a suggestion, an order, and a wish all in one.

“Friday, you wanna give Romanoff a ring? Let’s see if we can get the fabricator at the Compound up and running. If not, I’m gonna have to bring a bot and a toolkit.”

“Yes Boss.” the A.I. was untenably smug and it brought a smile to the mechanic’s weary face.

_Avengers_ , he thought sourly as he got up from his cozy kitchen table to open up his workshop, _Assemble._


End file.
